Thursday, 30 June 2011

The difference between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make sense.
Tom Clancy

So the deed is done! I have sent my email (somewhat spam like) to pretty much all of my email contacts. Only 6 delivery failures so I am hoping this email gets forwarded as much as possible. Apparently we are all connected by 6 people so lets see if the six degrees of separation works and if you get this email too! If you do please le me know- that would be an interesting experiment in itself. Although how many people will just bin it in any case?! Who knows. I have put my blog details on it (as well as finally managing to create a hyperlink to my Yudu published chapter) so lets see if the traffic increases on my blog site. I have also added a much needed signature to my yahoo email account that gives people the details of my book. If only I could do that with my work one as well!

I do hope it works. I think that’s it for marketing Goa Traffic for a while. I am going to give it at least a two week break. This is solely to refresh my mind and perhaps think of new marketing ploys. On a final note – I have just seen my proof for the Goa Traffic- India version- It does not look as good as the one I have done here- but the distribution channels are set up and I can see it appealing to tourists so lets see how that goes. I envision it will be out in a couple of months. Either way I need a break from marketing and I need to give my new novel, The Book Club, some more attention.

I emailed off my first chapter of The Book Club (warts and all) to someone in my writing group that has given it a great review and thinks it will be looked upon favourably. It is a good opener- even if I do say so myself- but it is a long way from completion. At my last writing group though they tore into my psychiatrist scene! I know I should go and visit one to see what they are actually like- In fact that is now on my list of things to do (I’ll let you know how it goes- a bit worried I may actually find it helpful) – basically I need to read through this first draft. I started yesterday but with all my Yudu-ing and sending out emails, it got put to the side. I really want to have a first read through and make any changes by the end of July. Then it will be ready for its first viewing- my mother and mother in law and a good friend that reads and then the changing and adding and subtracting and fleshing out this skeleton piece will really happen. I reckon this process to get to a complete third draft – will take the best part of the rest of this year. I am hoping to have it ready for December.

Any new author will tell you – writing can be very disheartening and for the last couple of weeks I have felt rather jaded. It is truly a passion but can be very frustrating and for women who are always their own biggest critiques it can be a bit depressing when you just want to tear up everything you have ever written.

Since the release of Goa Traffic - I feel my brain has been over-worked! I need a holiday for my mind, but all women will know this is a very hard thing to do. Maybe if I find the key to it I can write a book about it!!

Wednesday, 29 June 2011

Write your story as it needs to be written. Write it honestly, and tell it as best you can. I'm not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter.
Neil Gaiman

So I leave work early and all I try to do is add an hyperlink to my newly created Yudu publication. It was pretty simple but creating a hyperlink is a pain. I have done it to amazon etc to buy the book- but the link to read the chapter is in boring computer speak- anyway this is the email I am planning to send out to everyone I know. Let me know what you think. I cant seem to get the picture of the front cover on to the email but am giving up on that for today! maybe I will try again tomorrow!

Marissa de Luna has just published her first novel and we are spreading the word.

Goa Trafficby Marissa de Luna

‘Goa Traffic’ is the compelling story of a love affair in India and a ruthless deception with life altering consequences.Set against the backdrop of Goa, Lisa is swept away by the marriage of the East and West that works so perfectly there. She meets the man of her dreams, but it is not long before she is drawn into something dark and sinister that strips from her the beauty of a fun adventure.When the police come knocking on her door, she pleads ignorance, but just how much does she already know?

Monday, 27 June 2011

Quantity produces quality. If you only write a few things, you're doomed.
Ray Bradbury

So this is the article I wrote for the stylist - After mentioning it to someone they said- Its like you want women to be put back 50 years! It is not what I meant but now on reflection I can see their point. The point of the article was just that we sometimes have too many choices and we dont know what to do! anyway have a read and see what you think:

Too Many Choices

Last night over a tub of Ben and Jerrys my best friend looked me in the eye, pointed her spoon at me and asked “Do you think the reason for your apathy with your job is because you have too many choices? I looked at her in bewilderment for a couple of seconds before realising what she meant.

This appears to be a problem for most women in their late twenties and thirties, unlike the generation of our mothers, we women have the world at our feet. The proverbial glass ceiling has been lifted and it has left us with too many choices. We have access to education in all sorts of forms and in pretty much any subject we can imagine, and to accompany this there is a plethora of jobs that we can apply for (our economy depending). On-line grocery shopping makes our lives easier, and if we choose there are all sorts of childcare options if we want to focus on a career. No longer is a woman expected to be a stay-at-home mother or housewife with limited job opportunities. For the modern woman who knows where she wants to be in her life this is a blessing. She can be a full time working mother, run a local book club and do the weekly shop, all whilst training for a marathon in her spare time. However, for the rest of us mere mortals we just don’t know where to begin.

We begin our careers with a job we think we are going to be good at, but for the majority of us it’s not quite that simple, is it? And so we attempt something else, maybe we try our hand at another career or take six months out to travel and ‘find’ ourselves; perhaps just to delay making that all important decision as to ‘what we want to do with our lives.’ Better still we throw ourselves into education, a short course now and again with the hope that we will find our true vocation. And we set ourselves up to achieve all of this whilst finding a mate for life and procreating, because this is the only ‘must do’ that has been left over from the generation before and consequentially been indoctrinated into us.

Surely this is impossible for any young woman to achieve, but in an ever evolving world where nothing is deemed as impracticable and at all times there is an invisible hand of pressure squeezing us for every last ounce of our energy to try and achieve the impossible, we strive to realise this. So many women are now looking to marry later in life, because we feel we have too much to do before we settle down. Our lives are full of choice and because of this many of us can’t seem to make a decision.

I looked down into the swirl of Cherry Garcia which was slowly melting in my bowl and stirred the gooey dessert, realising my best friend was right. I have two degrees and a professional qualification, I have written a book and have completed countless short courses as well as having taken a career break to travel the world and somewhere in between I tied the knot with my ever so patient partner. Yet I still don’t know what I want to do with my life, or where I should focus my energies.

The next day at work, I sit at my desk and write my thoughts down that soon evolve into this article and I know three quarters of my female friends are in this same predicament. As I sip on my green tea I know I can no longer ignore that seed of doubt that has been rooted in my mind telling me that I am in the wrong job. Maybe, just maybe it is time for another short course.

Sunday, 26 June 2011

Well the amazon kindle sales seem to be doing okay with ratings improving somewhat. A friend said that selling books takes time and not to expect it to take some time. I agree, I feel I am in a rush- for what I dont know. I will take some time out from it. In fact this week I am going to start reading through my first draft of 'The Book Club'. Another thing on my list this week is to finish another couple of chapters of my dummies book and to purchase my new book from the book club that I have joined.

I have been given some great tips from an editor who has been in touch with me in regards to YUDU. If you haven't heard pod it- it sounds great. It is basically publishing software so that you can upload pdf's and make them available to read on line- So my plan is this an email I(sorry if you ever get spammed by me) a bit of a chain email asking people to forward it on to spread the word about 'Goa Traffic' - with a sample chapter published by Yudu as a link on the email. The contents of which I will email here, I am even getting technical and adding links and all sorts to it- It will be short and sweet- A bit of a direct mail out to people I know and with any luck they will forward it on. You see I cant help but go back to 'Goa Traffic' all the time.

I have not tried setting up an account for YUDU yet but am planning to this week- so I can get that email out. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thursday, 23 June 2011

The only time to believe any kind of rating is when it shows you at the top.Bob Hope

Today I received a bit of a review from the first male reader of my book, 'Goa Traffic' available at all good online retailers - sorry had to get that in- (husband aside) he said something along the lines that the beginning was slow but was now getting interesting. I will wait for the final review but it is nice to see a man reading it and will be good to hear the result. the beginning is more catered for women I guess, or maybe it is just a slow start.

Today I am annoyed by the amazingness (I know this is not a word) of other blogs that I have seen from writers. They look more like websites with interesting topics and a gazillion comments going on. I somewhat feel the simplicity of my blog is not really inspiring much commentary, but my traffic flow - I think- is fairly good- so are people not commenting because they don't feel like it- but just reading it to see what I am musing about on a particular day? or is my blog that un-inspiring/thought provoking that people don't have much to say.

A feeling of negativity washes over me but I let it, I let it wash away. I am pretty happy with my blog, the way it looks- and what I write- well I cant help that. What I am doing though is creating a website- as soon as I manage to sort the details of that - I will be up and running and hopefully it will be simplistic and 'me'. That is all that I can hope for. But there is a niggling question at the back of my mind that asks whether I should upgrade my blog to something a bit more flash?!

Wednesday, 22 June 2011

Writing is a fairly lonely business unless you invite people in to watch you do it, which is often distracting and then have to ask them to leave.
Marc Lawrence

It is true, writing can be lonely because when you are absorbed in your work you tend to shut the whole world out. If you live with someone this could possibly alienate them, But it is something that you have to do. I have decided to dedicate one day per week to shutting people out- it is selfish but necessary. When you write distractions are everywhere but when you are trying to get something down it doesn't matter what is going on around you - I personally get so absorbed that I just block voices and sounds out. A good talent that accompanies writing. I suppose different people work in different conditions.

Today I started writing an article. I don't write articles or short stories, however, I saw an article on the Stylist website and was inspired. I will post the article on here soon but this will be my first submission.

Writing something short was quite cathartic in a way and a refreshing change from writing a novel. Maybe I will start writing short stories.

I have reached chapter 13 of English Grammar for dummies. I am not sure if I have improved but I think it is slowly seeping in. I somehow have realised I will need to read it at least thrice before I see any improvement in my writing.

Tuesday, 21 June 2011

Did I mention my book is about to go global? No how could I forget a thing like that?! Well not really global but it will be published and printed in Goa by Broadway books. To me this is a small triumph as it will be available in the best market for that book-Goa as you may or may not know is flooded with tourists and they are the perfect market for this type of novel. Wouldn’t you want to read about the country your are visiting – written by a locale and explore the hidden depths of Goa? I would- Lets see how the sales go! So this is great. I am even going to plan a bit of a launch party there the next time I go - maybe even place a newspaper advert. Things are much cheaper there I guess and more feasible.

I will even try and get it into hotels – of course they will take a commission but hey- I’ll get my name out there and to me that is pretty important right now. A friend who has been published told me not to rush in publicising and marketing so much- I guess I don’t want to burn out, but it is like I have to get my name and book out there- a bit like when I decided I had to publish Goa Traffic, once I had decided I wouldn’t stop until I had done it. That is the good thing about self pub- you can take your time and that is the great thing about writing a book- it will be around for a long time yet- you can take your time with it.

I must look into those yoga classes and learn to chill out - right now I know I am trying to do too much but I just cant help myself! I know I need to take a break.

FYI - My reading group was good. I was not the only person that found this 'bestseller' a difficult and slow read (but fascinating at times and a bit of an education as well) - The book for this month is Aberystwyth Mon Amour by Malcolm Pryce - Who I see is an UK based author and only written a handful of books - support the mid lists I say - although that is a bit of an assumption- he may well be well known!

That was all I had to say today- but tomorrow I will have some more thoughts on self pub, websites and blogs…

Monday, 20 June 2011

Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats.Howard Aiken

If someone were to ask you who your inspiration was, who would you say? I love Minette Walters and reading her books in my late teens I think was my main inspiration. I think the first that I wrote was 'The shape of Water' - a story that was a bit of a suspense as well as including quite a bit of knowledge about Tourettes, something that was not much talked about. I liked that each of her novels brought in some facts about something I knew relatively little of- I liked the fact that not only did I get an interesting read but I leaned something as well (Wow- what a geek)

Now I love Carlos Ruiz Zafon - The Shadow of the Wind is one of my favourite books ever and Paulo Coehlo is another favourite. His stories really inspire like The Devil and Miss Prim and Eleven Minutes as well as By The River Piedra, I Sat Down and Wept. Kazuo Ishiguro is also great- When we were orphans transported me to another world, a frindship between two boys a life in England and Hong Kong. I love the way each of his novels are different almost like they are written by different people. He is an amazing writer- to able to switch the voice like that is something else. And of course most recently Aravind Adiga -White Tiger and Between the assassinations were great great books. White Tiger was his first and was one of the best books I have read in a long time.

So for now I aspire to be like one of these writers, but I want to create my own style as well. As I look at the first printed copy of my next book "The Book Club" I keep my fingers crossed.

Saturday, 18 June 2011

Stories may well be lies, but they are good lies that say true things, and which can sometimes pay the rent.
Neil Gaiman

So I was looking online for some writers blogs - in particular for un-published or self published authors and I stumbled across 'writers beware'- Victoria Strauss had written an interesting blogpost on self publishing saying that - well in a nutshell - self publishing was not worth it. there were some great comments to and from the site - stupid me should have copied the link- but I didnt but here is the link to the main blog:

Great article and some great comments. I have just self published my novel and am on the self publishing band-wagon. My grammar is terrible and therefore paid for a full edit. I know my writing needs improvement but as one comment said- self publishing is an alternative - in a market which is flooded with budding novelists and therefore there is hard competition.

I think the growth of e-books (and the low prices) will bring self publishing to the forefront. Most readers don't look at the name of the publishing house when they pick up a book- they read the blurb on the back.

Either way readers will decide and new authors will have more of an opportunity to get out there- even if it is just one book out of ten that is great and self published- it is better than nothing.

I think most authors that go into self publishing know the drawbacks- I doubt they are sucked in. And they get to live their dream and maybe, just maybe they will be successful! And that in itself is worth it. Most self pubbed authors don't release a book expecting high sales- but they work at it and if they are good then they will get somewhere and there is no harm in that.

Friday, 17 June 2011

I can't give you a sure-fire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: try to please everybody all the time.Herbert Bayard Swope

Today I write about reviews. They are so helpful. the constructive ones that point out something you can improve and the ones that rip right into you. They are all good- at least someone has an opinion of it right? it sparked something... which is a good thing and more importantly they read your book. Financially you won - at least and you probably learnt something as well- constructive criticism - or you learnt that the reviewer is ignorant.

So anyway I have one or two new reviews from people I dont know that well and they are good it makes me smile.

Although my ratings have dropped a bit in the charts, the reviews are good. So I plod on... with the marketing, with the continual sending out of press releases. Today I target the broadsheets.

Oh and for any avid followers- my 5 free missing books from the publisher arrived today. But no response to reduce my book price on kindle!!

Even more stressful is the fact that one published author from my writing group has downloaded the book and is reading it... arghhhhhhh - Why do I get so nervy every time I know someone else is reading it?! I hope she gives me some constructive criticism!

Thursday, 16 June 2011

We read five words on the first page of a really good novel and we begin to forget that we are reading printed words on a page; we begin to see images.
John Gardner

I have made my way on to authors2you: http://www.authors2you.co.uk/contemporary-fiction.html It is quite good to be on a website with other authors. But I dont have a website so when you click on my face it directs you to my blog. Which makes me realise I need to get a website up and running asap. Too much to do too little time.

Getting on to the website is a start though. I dont know what their audience is like but hopefully it will unite readers who are looking for something unique and not mainstream to our books.

At the moment I feel a bit fed up with my writing so I have not looked at the printed first draft of my new manuscript - I am giving myself a breather- do you have to look at every day or only when you are in the mood? That is a blog post debate I had with myself some time ago.

I am a quarter way through my English Grammar for dummies book and a chapter away from the finish line in the Hare with amber eyes. It has not much improved. Lets see how I do at my first book club meet then!! Maybe they all love it and I will be barred for being hopeless.

Today I emailed some spiel and my press release to 10 popular mainstream magazines- Only one came back to say that their inbox was full! The others I wait on. Fingers crossed. Lets hope for the best.

Wednesday, 15 June 2011

Try not to become a man of success, but rather a man of value.Albert Einstein

Back to the e-book ranting today. My father-in-law cut out a very interesting article for me the other day about e-books. I mentioned before on my blog just how much popularity can be achieved through a well priced e-book- wouldn’t you buy a book for £1.99 or less- give an unknown author a go. I know I would if I had the time. With 70% royalties this makes the best solution for authors wanting to be heard. So I ask you- what do you think? With amazon predicting huge sales of the Kindle in the coming years- and having played around with one myself- I can see why it is so popular. It must be worth it.

Rumors are strife that if you are doing it yourself then formatting can be a nightmare- Which makes me think set up a e book self publishing company and you are on to a winner- something I am seriously beginning to consider- but with my next novel “The Book Club” I am definitely going to test the kindle market first. I have contacted my publishers today to see if I can reduce the cost of Goa Traffic on the kindle- I mean how high can their margin be – if its an electronic download. And a £1.99 do it yourself kindle book can get you 70% royalty. I am curious- frankly I would be happy dropping my margin even if I only make £0.10pence just to get the sales and the publicity and of course my name as an author out there! After all “Goa traffic” Is not about making money, its about getting my work out there, seeing if its any good, making a name for myself and more importantly now is getting self publishing more of a name than the traditional routes.

The more I look into it- the more I think that mid-list authors are being ripped off quite considerably when they follow this golden traditional publishing route. Many self publishers (and I’ve done some work here) just check out www.selfpublishingreview.co.uk are slightly apprehensive of plugging their book for fear of that question-of who the publisher is- and then they don’t really want to say they are self published but of course they have to and to the layman this means generally one thing- that its not good enough- Self published authors know that look and that’s what they are afraid of- Like I said before self published authors are not hugely self confident.

I would have thought the same thing myself before I started this long process. Now I think differently. Self publishing is great. You get higher royalties, pure creative control over your work. More control of when you work is going into print etc.. Okay the huge downside is the cost, time and effort in marketing – but then how many hugely successful authors do you know- We all hear of the JK Rowlings of this world but there are millions of authors out there with some good stories to tell. Anyway without the print costs kindle is the way forward… maybe.

Friday, 10 June 2011

To most people if you say this line they will immediately think – famous quote, possibly Shakespear. We all think it is a great line, don’t we? Those five words conjure up so many images, it is rather beautiful and it is from this same soliloquy that the other most famous line in Hamlet comes from “To be or not to be?” again it can conjour up so many things – but really it means “To live or not to live?” It makes sense – so whilst Hamlet is contemplating life on a much deeper level- hearing these sentences without any background and without any context we make it what we want it to be.

If you hear the above two quotes you wouldn’t automatically think death- or would you? I don’t know- I certainly wouldn’t- even now, even after studying Hamlet. I would think nice thoughts. In fact the other day when browsing around a shop- I see some framed words. “To Sleep, perchance to dream” – How nice I think, to put it over a bed maybe- in the guest room. I don’t however buy it, instead I buy “If Music be the food of love play on” – for the kitchen because the colours worked better and even though it relates obviously to music and not food- It works well in the kitchen and so that’s where it lives.

But that’s life - words you write, sayings you keep in your mind are generally beautiful and mean something to you and why not – if you want “To sleep, perchance to dream” – to mean what you want it to mean then why shouldn’t it- or do we respect the author twice over and say no- he meant it to be about dying and so we must only use it in that sense?!

How would you feel if it was your work?- would Shakespear be turning in his grave that his most famous lines were being hung up in all places they shouldn’t be?

Does it de-value the brand? Or emphasize it. In my mind words are there to be celebrated – I know if I ever am lucky enough to have a famous quote – I don’t think I would mind it hanging up in someone’s house relating to something completely different to what I originally meant! I would just be glad that somebody took notice!

The same to me applies to snippets of work (I mean writing in this context) When I read out a sample of my new book to anyone or my writing group and I get a flurry of questions back about things that happened to the protagonist before this passage and after I cant help but think that context is everything and that sometimes we judge a book too much by just a small passage we ready because we haven’t read the whole thing yet and maybe at the end there is something we need to know so that it all makes sense?! Maybe! Or maybe it is just a book that does not interest us and we should stop there because life is too short and too precious to waste our time reading something we know we are not going to enjoy.

And I must say that I am rather annoyed. Why? Well because it is priced at £6.99 and I wonder who would buy it at that price- to me kindle books especially ones you haven't heard of are about £1.99, I guess I could have uploaded it myself to kindle and done all the formatting which I think can be quite difficult but I could have done it and then I could have charged £1.99 and maybe I would sell a lot more- no I would definitely sell more- but anywho now I am stuck with a £6.99 kindle book- maybe I will think twice before using authorhouse again!!

Wednesday, 8 June 2011

Writing is not a genteel profession. It's quite nasty and tough and kind of dirty.Rosemary Mahoney

Today I am going to print the very sketchy first draft of my second novel. It is a mere 55,000 words- a pretty similar number to where Goa Traffic started. It is just a skeleton that needs fleshing out.

I will start reading through this minimal first draft and see what needs adding, taking out elaborating etc.

i feel I had a smoother write with this one as opposed to Goa Traffic. The words came thick and fast and I think it is because I did something I don't normally believe in. I wrote a bit of a chapter plan. As the novel started, I didnt but then as plots started to thicken , I thought I had better or I would end up confused myself. Goa Traffic is a book of few characters and one main plot. The Book Club however, is a labyrinth of complexities. I will let you know how I get on after I print the first copy.

On the Goa Traffic front, I have dropped a copy of the book at the Waterstones near to where I work and my mother-in-law too is going around little stores and big ones trying to entice fiction buyers.

I have heard back from a magazine as well- and on request I have sent off a few sample chapters. Fingers crossed- not that I ever get to uncross them these days.

I am still struggling through The Hare with Amber Eyes as well English Language for dummies!

Sunday, 5 June 2011

I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.Joan Didion

I love the work of Paulo Coelho and now that I am on twitter and following him, he posted something rather interesting for a writer or for anyone really which directed me to his blog. Basically Hemmingway said that they best story he wrote was in six words. It went something like this " For sale: Baby Shoes. Never worn." Paulo Coelho's task to his followers so to speak was to come up with your own six word story. No prize I dont think so but I did it because I was slightly interested to see what I could come up with. To be honest looking at that 6 word story above evokes quite a few emotions, thought spiral etc. It is good but to me only because someone said it was a story and the best the author thought he had written- Oh what perception does to us!

So anyway I looked through what some people had written, it was interesting some I didnt quite like, some were ok. Its tough coming up with a 6 word story and I put a five minute time limit on myself and here is what I came up with. Here is mine:

Wednesday, 1 June 2011

If you try to please audiences, uncritically accepting their tastes, it can only mean that you have no respect for them: that you simply want to collect their money.
Andrei Tarkovsky

So I have done a couple of new marketing exercises that I have mentioned before but not actually given details about. For one you can follow me on Twitter@marissadelunaand secondly you can ‘like’ my facebook page Goa Traffic-a novel by Marissa de Luna. Spread the word far and wide I would like as many followers and ‘likes’ as possible!

Today I started to consider a website as well- it will be more sophisticated than a blog I suppose- cutting out the waffle and providing just the right amount of required detail for people who want to know about me and the books that write, Goa Traffic. I have also had another idea- to compile for my website and current facebook page an album of scenes in Goa that I think depict the book well. The brightly coloured houses, the children playing on the sides of the roads, the bamboo scaffolds, the old wooden grandfather chair, the beaches, the main ‘tito’s strip where all the nightlife occurs. That I suppose will be a work in progress. I don’t have many of those photos so would have to go out and take them, and currently I don’t have a trip planned till later in the year- surely it will give the reader an even better insight into Goa, the way things are there. It may be what some people want. Would it encourage sales?

I have not looked on many author websites after reading a book but I think I will start. The only one that I did actively search out- because I wanted more after the book was over was the author of Shantaram (see I cant even remember the author’s name- Gregory something- I must improve my lack of ability to remember authors names now that I am one.)

I cant remember the website but I remember coming away slightly disappointed as there was not much on there of interest to me. I don’t know what I expected really. But I would like to think I could create a website that has enough to give readers that little bit extra.

But having my own website costs money!!! How do I go about setting one up easily, cheaply and efficiently?! Who knows, that is another venture I will need to look into! Recommendations have been to have a website with the name of your book in the title, however, is this really going to be economical when I write another book- No I think I will stick to just my name Marissa de Luna.

And on that note I move on- I have changed my name bow at work to my married name! It is in a way that you are losing a bit of your identity but I suppose this is my new identity now. For writing though I am keeping my name- always!

Pages

About Me

After taking a career break in 2007 I started writing my first novel, Goa Traffic. In 2011 I published it and I have never looked back since. Writing is my passion and I wouldn't be without it. I have just completed my second novel, "The Bittersweet Vine," which has been taken on by Thames River Press and I am in the midst of working on a new thriller and a light hearted detective series set in rural Goa. Follow my journey as I try to establish myself in the world of writing and try to decipher publishing, marketing and get to grips with grammar - all whilst maintaining a full time job! I can be contacted at info@marissadeluna.com or through my website www.marissadeluna.com